Hinged slide mechanism

ABSTRACT

A mechanism is disclosed for mounting a circuit card cage with ready access to easily insertable and removable cards. A card cage is mounted on one side of and parallel to a support plate which may include an access aperture through which test pins and adjustment controls on the closest adjacent card may be reached. The support plate is mounted on the extending ends of a pair of telescoping slide members, the base ends of which are mounted in an electronics enclosure, adjacent one or more fixed female connector blocks into which male connector means on at least one of the circuit cards is received when the slide members are fully telescoped inwardly. The telescoping slide members have elongated transverse dimensions lying in substantially the same plane, and the terminal sections of the slide members are divided about colinear hinge axes lying in the plane, so that the coupled support plate and card cages can be rotated through a substantial angle when the slide members are fully extended.

United States Patent [191 Puri [451 Apr. 17,1973

[73] Assignee: v Ampex Corporation, Redwood City,

Calif.

[22] Filed: Feb. 7, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 223,881

[75] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl ..339/17 LM, 211/41, 312/320,

317/101 CB, 3.17/10] DH, 339/75 M [51] Int. Cl. ..H02b l/04, H05k 7/16[58] Field 01' Search ..3l2/320, 302, 334;

211/41; 317/101 CB, 101 DH; 339/17 L, 17 LC, 17 LM, 17 M, 75 M, 75 MP,45 M, 64M

2,880,379 3/1959 Stoddart et al. 1 7/101 CB 3,129,991 4/1964 Schmitz..339/l7 LM 3,188,524 6/1965 Williams ..339/l8 B X 3,147,402 9/1964H0chstet1er..... 317/101 DH X 2,789,024 4/1957 Heisler ..3l2/320 XFORElGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 930,671 2/1948 France ..3l7/l0l DH986,540 8/1951 France ..3l7/10l CB Primary Examiner-Marvin A. ChampionAssistant ExaminerTerrell P. Lewis Attorney-Robert G. Clay ABSTRACT Amechanism is disclosed for mounting a circuit card cage with readyaccess to easily insertable and removable cards. A card cage is mountedon one side of and parallel to a support plate which may include anaccess aperture through which test pins and adjustment controls on theclosest adjacent card may be reached. The support plate is mounted onthe extending ends of a pair of telescoping slide members, the base endsof which are mounted in an electronics enclosure, adjacent one or morefixed female connector blocks into which male connector means on atleast one of the circuit cards is received when the slide members arefully telescoped inwardly. The telescoping slide members have elongatedtransverse dimensions lying in substantially the same plane, and theterminal sections of the slide members are divided about colinear hingeaxes lying in the plane, so that the coupled support plate and cardcages can be rotated through a substantial angle when the slide membersare fully extended.

9 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PAIEH] 11 mi 1 7 m sum 3 or 3 FIG 5 FIG 7LLR mfg-72 I I k4o I 4| 52 42 44 F|G.6 36 e4 67 K K 66 so 63 FIG 8 FIG.9

1 HINGEI) SLIDE MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates to mechanisms for mounting andproviding access to circuit cards.

2. History of the Prior Art In modern electronics assemblies, individualcircuit cards are typically slidably received in parallel spaced lSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A circuit card mounting and access system inaccordance with the invention includes a frame or cabinet having afemale connector block mounted therein, a card cage assembly having maleconnectors printed on a card extending from an open end thereof, and apair of multisection telescoping slide mechanisms mounted by a basesection to the frame in a plane adjacent the female connector block. Thecard cage is mounted to a section of the slide mechanism which isoutermost when extended and moves between a retracted position whereinthe male connector engages the female connector block and an extendedposition wherein the connectors are disengaged and the card cage is freeto rotate about a hinging axis in the plane.

The hinging axis is perpendicular to a longitudinal direction ofextension for I the telescoping slide mechanisms, the hinges being inthe outermost section thereof. Rotation of the card cage permits bothaccess to electrical pins and adjustment controls through a hole in theside of the card cage and removal of cards through the open end of thecard cage without detachment of the card cage. In addition, a quickdisconnect mechanism in a central section ofthe slide mechanism permitscomplete detachment of the card cage from the frame if desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of theinvention may be had from a consideration of the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of a card mountingand access system having a card cage assembly slidably mounted to aframe in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the card mounting and access systemshown in FIG. I,'showing in detail the mounting of the card cageassembly to the frame;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the card mounting and access systemshown in FIG. 1, showing in detail the card cage assembly in a rotatedposition;

FIG. 4 is an end view, somewhat simplified, of a telescoping slidemechanism shown in FIG. 1 for mounting the card cage assembly to theframe, the slide mechanism being in a retracted condition;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a base member in the slide mechanism shown inFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the base member shown FIG. 5; I i

FIG. 7 is a front view of a central slide section in the slide mechanismshown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is an end view of the central slide section shown in FIG. 7; FIG.9 is a fragmentary sectional side view of a stop portion of the centralslide section taken along line 9 in the direction of the arrows as shownin FIG. 7; FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional side view of a latchingportion of the central slide section taken along line 10-10 in thedirection of the arrows as shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a front view of a mounting assembly in the slide mechanismshown in FIG. 4; I i l Y L FIG. 12 is an end view of the mountingassembly shown in FIG. 11; 5

FIG. 13 is a side view of the mounting assembly shown in FIG. 11; and VFIG. 14 is an alternative embodiment of a mounting member in accordancewith the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a card cage mountingand access system in accordance with the invention includes a pair ofparallel telescoping slide mechanisms 10, 12 mounting a printed circuitcard cage 14 at their outwardly extending ends and coupled at theiropposite ends to a base member 15 within a frame represented as acabinet or electronics enclosure 16. The slide mechanisms 10, 12 areidentical and retract as the card cage 14 is slid intothe cabinet 16"and extend as the card cage '14 is slid out of the cabinet I6. The cardcage 14 is mounted on one side of a planar support plate 17 and formsone wall thereof. The card cage 14 may be one of any of a number ofconventional types arranged to slidably receive one or more printedcircuit boards 18 In this example, the circuit boards 18 are slidableinto and out of an open end of the card cage 14 on the cabinet 16 side,taking the position of FIG. 'l as reference. In this position, maleterminal connectors 20 on one or more of the circuit boards 18 insertinto mating female connectors 19 within the cabinet 16 to form a plugconnection. When the slide mechanisms 10,

, are retracted relative to the cabinet 16, the card cage 14 isconstrained to a proper orientation for alignment of the plugconnections 19, '20. However, when the slide mechanisms 10, 12 areextended as shown in 1, the card cage 14 is free to rotate about ahingin'g a xis 22. By rotating the card cage 14, access to the open sideof the card cage assembly 14 adjacent the printed connectors 20 forservicing or repair is greatly facilitated. In addition, quickdisconnect latch mechanisms 24, 26 on the slide mechanisms 10, 12 permitcomplete removal of the card cage I4 from the cabinet 16 if necessary. rI i The telescoping slide mechanism l0 is further illustrated in aretracted condition in FIG 4. This end view is somewhat simplified inthat the illustration of latches, hinges and stops is omitted forclarity. The slid e mechanism 10 includes a base assembly whichs lidablyreceives a mounting assembly 32. The has sembly 30 includes a basemember 34 which fastens ,o the base member 15 (FIG. 1) and slidablyreceives a central slide section 36. In turn, the central slide sec tion36 slidably receives the mounting assembly 3,2.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base slide member 34 is an elongatedchannel with a C-shaped cross section including an opening 40 opposite aweb member base 41. Flanges 42, 43 are coplanar with the opening 40 andextend inwardly from sides 44 and 45 which are perpendicular to the webmember 41. The inward edges 46, 47 of the flanges 42, 43 respectivelyare somewhat spaced apart to form the opening 40. The base slide member34 is thus a thin columnar element lying essentially flat in a givenplane. Three countersunk holes 48, 49, 50 are longitudinally spacedalong the web member 41 and extend therethrough. The holes 48-50 mayreceive flat head screws (not shown) for fastening the base member 34 toa cabinet or frame 16 (as seen in FIG. 1) without interference withcolinear sliding motion of the central sliding section 36 within thebase section 34. A small, raised dimple 0r boss 52 is positioned near aninward end 54 of the base section 34 and serves as a stop for thecentral sliding section 36. The web member 41 of the base section 34also contains a rectangular aperture 56 near an outward end 58. Theaperture 56 serves as one portion of the quick disconnect latchingmechanism.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the central sliding section 36 is anelongated member having a generally C-shaped cross section similar tothat of the base member 34. The shape of the cross section of the member34 is that of a channel 60 having a web member 62, side members 63 and64 and an opening 65. Flanges 66, 67 extending inwardly from the sides63, 64 respectively are coplanar with the opening 65 and have spacedapart internal edges 68, 69. Positioned near an inward end 70 of thecentral slide section 36 is a stop 72 which may be a raised dimple orboss for preventing the mounting assembly 32 from sliding therepast.Positioned near an outward end 74 of the central slide section 36 isanother stop 76. The stop 76 is formed by punching a semicircular breakin the web member 62 and bending the internal material of the semicircleinward toward the opening 65.

A rectangular aperture 78 is located in the web member 62 for receivinga latch member 80 which is affixed to the web member by one end betweenthe inward end 70 and the aperture 78, as by a spot weld 82. As shown ingreater detail in FIG. 10, the latch 80 is a generally planar flatspring extending longitudinally from the fastening point 82 along theweb member 62 towards the outward end 74. The latch 80 extends throughthe aperture 78 and is shaped to present a gently sloping planar surface84 when telescoping inward within the base section 34, but a verticalsurface 86 when telescoping outward as the mounting assembly isextended. Thus, when the central slide section 36 is received by thebase member 34 and the latch 80 engages the aperture 56, the centralslide section 36 can be easily slid inward with respect to the basemember 34 but outward motion is restricted unless the latch 80 ismanually released.

As shown in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, the mounting assembly 32 includes firstand second elongated mounting members 90, 92 mechanically coupled in anend-toend relationship by a hinge 94. The cross section of the mountingmembers 92, 94 has the shape of a channel having a web member 96,perpendicular side members 97, 98 and an opening 99 with flanges 100,101 coplanar with the opening 99 extending outwardly from the sides 97,98 respectively. The hinge 94 is affixed to the internal surface of theweb member 96 of the mounting members 90, 92 by any suitable method suchas spot welding. The web member 96 of the mounting member 92 haslongitudinally spaced holes 102, 104 therethrough for bolting themounting member 92 to the support plate 17 of the card cage 14 (FIG. 1).A spring loaded stop 106 is affixed as by spot welding near the inwardend 108 of the mounting member and extends toward the hinge. The stop106 is affixed to the internal surface of the web member 96 and extendsthrough the opening 99 to engage the stop 76 when the mounting member 90is slidably received by the central slide member 36. Because of thegently sloping planar nature of the spring loaded stop 106, it ispossible to slide the stop 106 past the stop 76 when assemblying theslide mechanism 10, but once assembled the slide mechanism cannot bedisassembled by sliding the stop 106 past the stop 76 under normalconditions.

In an alternative arrangement which is shown in FIG. 14, the stop 106fastened to mounting member 90 is replaced by a latch 110 which isshaped similar to the latch 80 shown in FIGS. 7 and 10. When the latch110 is mounted on the mounting member 90, the central slide member 36may be eliminated with the base assembly 30 having as its onlytelescoping member the base member 34 which slidably receives themounting member 90. Under these circumstances, the aperture 56 receivesthe latch 110 to form the two parts of the quick disconnect latchingmechanism.

Although there have been described above specific arrangements of aslide mechanism in accordance with the invention for the purpose ofillustrating the manner in which the invention may be used to advantage,it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited thereto.Accordingly, any and all modifications, variations or equivalentarrangements which may occur to those skilled in the art should beconsidered to be within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A circuit card mounting and access system comprising:

a frame including female connector means; 1

telescoping arm means mounted adjacent said female connector means andextending outwardly therefrom;

planar support means coupled to the outer end of said telescoping armmeans and including means cooperating with the arm means for rotatingsaid planar support means through. a substantial arc of movement;

card cage means mounted on said planar support means;

and circuit card means slidably insertable into said card cage means andincluding male connector means mating with said female connector meanswhen said telescoping arm means is fully retracted.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein said telescopingarm means lie substantially in a single plane and are elongated in adirection lying in the plane, said telescoping arm means furthercomprising a number of slidably telescoping sections, an outermostsection including a hinge axis lying in said plane, normal to thedirection of elongation of the telescoping arm means.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 above, wherein said telescopingarm means comprise a pair of spaced apart telescoping arms, and whereinsaid frame is an electronics enclosure further including support meanscoupled to a base of said telescoping arm means, and wherein said planarsupport means includes aperture means therethrough for permitting accessto an interior adjacent circuit card.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 above, including in additionflexible connector means coupling circuits of the card cage from theterminal end thereof to the interior of the electronics enclosure inboth extended and retracted positions.

5. A circuit card mounting and access assembly comprising thecombination of:

an electronics enclosure including base means and a connector blockadjacent thereto;

a pair of spaced apart and parallel telescoping slide mechanisms mountedat an interior end on said base means and lying substantially in a givenplane, each of said slide mechanisms including like terminal slideelements hingedly mounted about colinear axes lying in the given plane;

a planar support plate spanning and coupled to the terminal slideelements of said slide mechanism and in abutting and facing relationthereto, said support plate including an access aperture therethroughbetween the terminal slide elements and being rotatable with theterminal elements about the colinear axes;

and a card cage for receiving at least one circuit card in slidablerelation mounted on one side of and parallel to the support plate and atleast coextensive with the access aperture therein, the circuit cardincluding a connector aligned to engage the connector block in matingrelationship when the slide mechanism is telescoped to minimum length.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 5 above, wherein the terminalslide elements expose the hinged mountings when extended beyond theadjacent slide element, and wherein said slide mechanisms comprise thincolumnar elements lying essentially flat in a given plane, with thehinged mechanisms rotating about a hinged axis in the given plane thatis normal to the direction of telescoping of said slide mechanisms.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 6 above, wherein said card cagehas an entry-exit side for cards facing in the opposite direction as theouter ends of said telescoping slide mechanisms, and wherein at leastone of the circuit cards includes male connector terminals extendingfrom the side opposite the entry-exit side.

8. The invention as set forth in claim 7 above, wherein each of theslide mechanisms has substantially three sections, the outer sectionbeing hinged to pr ovide substantially rotation of the terminal slideelement and the associated support plate, and wherein in addition saidslide mechanisms include stop means for releasably holding the slidemechanisms in the extended positions.

9. The invention as set forth in claim 8 above, wherein said. stop meanspermits detachment of the outer slide member from the remainder of theslide mechanism when released.

1. A circuit card mounting and access system comprising: a frameincluding female connector means; telescoping arm means mounted adjacentsaid female connector means and extending outwardly therefrom; planarsupport means coupled to the outer end of said telescoping arm means andincluding means cooperating with the arm means for rotating said planarsupport means through a substantial arc of movement; card cage meansmounted on said planar support means; and circuit card means slidablyinsertable into said card cage means and including male connector meansmating with said female connector means when said telescoping arm meansis fully retracted.
 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 above,wherein said telescoping arm means lie substantially in a single planeand are elongated in a direction lying in the plane, said telescopingarm means further comprising a number of slidably telescoping sections,an outermost section including a hinge axis lying in said plane, normalto the direction of elongation of the telescoping arm means.
 3. Theinvention as set forth in claim 2 above, wherein said telescoping armmeans comprise a pair of spaced apart telescoping arms, and wherein saidframe is an electronics enclosure further including support meanscoupled to a base of said telescoping arm means, and wherein said planarsupport means includes aperture means therethrough for permitting accessto an interior adjacent circuit card.
 4. The invention as set forth inclaim 3 above, including in addition flexible connector means couplingcircuits of the card cage from the terminal end thereof to the interiorof the electronics enclosure in both extended and retracted positions.5. A circuit card mounting and access assembly comprising thecombination of: an electronics enclosure including base means and aconnector block adjacent thereto; a pair of spaced apart and paralleltelescoping slide mechanisms mounted at an interior end on said basemeans and lying substantially in a given plane, each of said slidemechanisms including like terminal slide elements hingedly mounted aboutcolinear axes lying in the given plane; a planar support plate spanningand coupled to the terminal slide elements of said slide mechanism andin abutting and facing relation thereto, said support plate including anaccess aperture Therethrough between the terminal slide elements andbeing rotatable with the terminal elements about the colinear axes; anda card cage for receiving at least one circuit card in slidable relationmounted on one side of and parallel to the support plate and at leastcoextensive with the access aperture therein, the circuit card includinga connector aligned to engage the connector block in mating relationshipwhen the slide mechanism is telescoped to minimum length.
 6. Theinvention as set forth in claim 5 above, wherein the terminal slideelements expose the hinged mountings when extended beyond the adjacentslide element, and wherein said slide mechanisms comprise thin columnarelements lying essentially flat in a given plane, with the hingedmechanisms rotating about a hinged axis in the given plane that isnormal to the direction of telescoping of said slide mechanisms.
 7. Theinvention as set forth in claim 6 above, wherein said card cage has anentry-exit side for cards facing in the opposite direction as the outerends of said telescoping slide mechanisms, and wherein at least one ofthe circuit cards includes male connector terminals extending from theside opposite the entry-exit side.
 8. The invention as set forth inclaim 7 above, wherein each of the slide mechanisms has substantiallythree sections, the outer section being hinged to provide substantially180* rotation of the terminal slide element and the associated supportplate, and wherein in addition said slide mechanisms include stop meansfor releasably holding the slide mechanisms in the extended positions.9. The invention as set forth in claim 8 above, wherein said stop meanspermits detachment of the outer slide member from the remainder of theslide mechanism when released.